Many years ago, I was having a lot of trouble with a group of people with whom I was involved. As individuals, they all still seemed to be fine, but when they got together, they started behaving in ways which seemed to me to be dysfunctional.
One day at around that time, I went for a walk in the country and saw a sheep walk through a gap in the fence between one field and another. The nearest sheep in the field it had left noticed it had gone, and followed it through the gap. Then others noticed what was happening and made towards the gap themselves. There were lots of sheep in the field and the effect was like great ripples spreading out through a sea of sheep. It was a big, big field and because of the lie of the land, I couldn't even see the far side of it, so before long there seemed to be vast numbers of sheep heading towards me, appearing out of nowhere, all heading to the gap in the fence and into the other field.
It was such an extraordinary sight due to the vast numbers of sheep involved that I took it as a 'Sign' that a leader would emerge in my problem group and sort things out. As I watched the first field slowly vacate while the sheep headed for pastures new, I felt some comfort that order would soon be returned among my friends.
I walked on feeling rather brighter.
But after a while, I glanced back at the sheep - and saw what happened next.
One of the sheep - I don't know if it was the same one - was heading back through the gap in the fence. And slowly at first, one by one, the other sheep noticed and followed. Until before long, all the sheep were back in the original field.
I realized I had been mistaken in what I had thought. This wasn't order at all. It was chaos. There was no reason underlying any of it. I decided that the 'Sign' hadn't been about the emergence of a sensible leader after all. It had been about people's tendency to mindlessly follow each other: to behave in a particular way, often very dysfunctionally, simply because others are doing the same thing. I no longer felt comforted - but I was wiser.
Looking now at the global financial crisis, it seems to have been inevitable. The banks were lending recklessly. They were even encouraging people to exaggerate how much they were earning when they applied for loans. It was madness. And yet hardly anyone saw it coming. Those who did, had their warnings ignored. Why was that? Because everyone was doing the same as everyone else. They were all following each other into the same field, so everybody felt safe. But look what happened...
Throughout history, humans have blindly followed each other, ignoring their own common sense, their own knowledge of what is 'right' in order to 'fit in', to follow the pack. Without such an attitude, Nazi Germany could never have happened, nor any number of other atrocities - and idiocies - throughout the world.
It is worth us bearing in mind that just because everyone else is doing a particular thing, it doesn't mean to say it is 'right' - or sensible. Perhaps we should look at our lives and see if there is anything we are doing in which we are blindly following others, ignoring our own innate wisdom in order to follow the crowd. And if so, then perhaps we should consider if we really want to continue.
We all do have an innate wisdom. There is a useful Sanskrit word 'buddhi', meaning 'intuitive intelligence'. It is a wisdom we have inside us, deriving perhaps from collective consciousness or universal mind, from our Oneness with all that is. Techniques such as kinesiology, in which our bodies seem to tap into some invisible source of knowledge, suggest its existence, and - I believe - we instinctively know it is present. Perhaps we should trust it more, this buddhi, instead of blindly following the nearest sheep.
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The thing I like about you Simon is that you are prepared to look at your fears, vulnerabilities and uneasiness and try to take it from there. You do not just theorize or take pleasure in what befalls people.
I have been concerned for years by the way we live and have watched unbelievingly as this financial and social debacle has unfolded from its small green shoots. Everyone - politicians, FSA, Bank of England, banks, auditors, public - has gorged themselves on excess - as you say the lemmings (sheep) have run over the edge of the cliff.
Obviously we reap what we sow and we must have a new paradigm from which to function but, it is also concerning that there are some new age, eco, spiritual, etc, etc, people who sit back in a self satisfied and self righteous manner and smirk that they had what is coming to them.
The fact is a lot of people will face situations which leave them perplexed, anxious and fearful which may exacerbate the situation, and, like you, I am not immune from these feelings.
We walk the thin line of addressing our own fears from which we learn and grow and maybe being of assistance to others who as a result of what is happening are more open to other ways of being and then hopefully a pheonix will rise from the ashes.
Thank you for your blogg, always informative and interesting
Bet
Posted by: Elizabeth Carbery | January 22, 2009 at 11:22 AM
Hello Simon,
Just as in your story about noticing the behavior of the sheep in the fields, I believe that we are always being guided if we are open and aware.
The situations that we find ourselves in, are there to show us where we need to do some more work. How willing are we to make appropriate choices? Sometimes we have to be hit over the head like we are now experiencing.
Life can be so much more easeful if like you suggest, we check in and notice if we are following our own truths.
Thanks for this insightful post.
May you follow your own clarity and knowing!
Posted by: Miruh | January 23, 2009 at 01:22 AM
Your posts always offer nourishing food for thought. Readers are grateful for your insight.
I have a friend who is a banker. He told me that when the "financial crisis" was announced, some of his clients started coming into the bank and requesting to withdraw all of their money. We are talking thousands of dollars. If you do not have an armoured truck or a suitcase and a gun, how do you propose to take thirty or even a hundred thousand+ home safely? Even if you get there, what do you do with it? Store it in a mattress? Some people actually keep more than one cookie jar!
To announce a financial crisis actaully brings such a phenomenon on because it creates fear. This kind of feeling can cause people to panic and stop spending. If you believe spending keeps the economy runnning, then, if spending stops or slows greatly, you get a problem. Of course, not everyone does panic. Ask someone in a third world country how they are dealing with it and they will reply, "dealing with what?" Reality is relative.
I have another acquaintance who's great uncle was a bookie. He kept a safe in the floor of his house. It contained a hundred thousand dollars or so in an era where this was truly big money. For some people, it still is a lot of cash. That individual distrusted banks, government and the financial system. He deplored taxes and how much of his earnings could be taken away. He felt he should keep everything hemade. That was his view. A financial crisis for him would have been very different. Everything is relative.
Posted by: Liara Covert | January 23, 2009 at 02:16 AM
I just overhead a 'secret', Simon. Seems an affiliate of the man that I work for, is in the 'banking industry' here - you know, the one that's received all the bailouts?
Seems that many of the banks are rolling in money now. Why? Because they've changed the rules so much in the opposite direction, no one can qualify for a loan anymore. LOL Talk about pendulum swings. Or knee jerk reactions.
Seems to me there is a 'spirit' behind this sort of debt. A trickle down effect, if you will, where our governments are first caught up in it, then our institutions, then the people (which is NOT saying we are absolved of our own responsibility. I'm talking in the spirit plane right now - being influenced by the unseen).
The Isrealites of old had an amazing custom, under Jewish law. Every 50 years was declared a Year of Jubilee. Everyone was to forgive debt, release the slaves and prisons, and be forgiven of debt. And it is reported that God showed up with particular mercies...
Can you imagine what that must have been like?
Posted by: Grace | January 24, 2009 at 12:35 AM
The population was so encouraged to overspend...the other day, in the midst of the financial crisis, I received a phone call from a bank that wanted to lend me up to $100,000...pre-approved!!!??!? I've never had any dealings with this bank; I asked how, with the World in financial difficulties, they could offer me, someone they did not know, this much money. Were they not encouraging debt, in a time when debt is a bad word? The lady on the line told me...Life goes on, we're in the business to lend and we don't have problems lending to those who can pay back.
Since they must have received my name from a list, did not know who they were speaking with at first...how do they know I have the ability to pay back?
But this kind of thing would be enormously difficult for someone who cannot pay the monthly bills, at the moment. A phone call offering $100,000 could be seen as a godsend. And more debt follows.
It's not good when a wolf leads the sheep.
Posted by: Marion | January 24, 2009 at 02:47 PM
Simon, Thank you for the thought proving post. We are always trying to bring order to the chaos of the world. That's our problem. We all do it, all of the time. We think the chaos is out there, so we constantly try to manage it where it isn't. The world is an outside picture of an inward condition. We don't change the world. We change our mind about the world. Chaos gives way to oder when we give up our chaotic purpose for what we think we see. That's where the hope lies.
Posted by: Dave | January 24, 2009 at 10:17 PM
Hi Simon. I loved this! "...just because everyone else is doing a particular thing, it doesn't mean to say it is 'right' - or sensible." Amen! It is so easy to get caught up in what everybody else is doing. And how do we know they know what they are doing, or if they are following someone else?
Posted by: Davina | January 25, 2009 at 07:28 PM
Hi Bet – It’s great to hear from you! Thanks for your comment. I remember a ‘spiritual’ person being asked what she thought of the twin towers attack a short while after it happened. She gave a smile and said she thought it was great because it meant that all the new age/2012 stuff she’d read about for so long was starting to happen. I try not to be judgmental – honestly! – but this is not the sort of ‘spirituality’ which I buy into. I think we need to keep our sense of compassion. It may well be necessary for us *all* to go through the fire before we rise from the ashes, and we’re all going to need some guidance to make it through.
Hi Miruh – At that stage of my life, I was much less inclined to follow ‘signs and omens’ than I am now, but this was such a remarkable experience that I couldn’t ignore it. There were so *many* sheep and it all happened right in front of me. I *was* being ‘hit over the head’ – and it was what I needed! Many thanks for your comment and good wishes.
Posted by: Simon | January 25, 2009 at 10:33 PM
Hi Liara – Recent events have taught us that there’s no such thing as security in this world – and it’s a very useful lesson to learn. You can only screw that lid so tight on the cookie jar…
You are right about the way in which fear is contributing to the economic crisis. It is a very good example of the law of attraction in action. We are making things worse because we believe they’re going to get worse. If no one had heard there were problems, things might now be turning round by now.
Thanks for these interesting anecdotes, Liara!
Posted by: Simon | January 25, 2009 at 10:38 PM
Hi Grace – Wow! Thanks for that story about ancient Israel. I can imagine the crime rate soaring in the twelve months before the Jubilee Year, as people take advantage of the coming amnesty. I don’t know if you’ve read my latest post, ‘The Sheep Strike Again’, but it wouldn’t happen here. The Daily Mail would never allow it!
It’s interesting what you report from America, because of course this is a ‘credit crunch’. The underlying problem is that people can’t get loans, so *this* is the problem it is most important to address. What has happened here in the UK is that the banks have been given lots of money but they’re still not lending to people, so we’re still left with the original problem. It sounds like the same thing has happened over there.
Posted by: Simon | January 25, 2009 at 10:41 PM
Hi Marion – Thanks for your comment. It’s interesting to hear that you’re still getting offers of loans over there in Canada. Here in the UK, they’ve pretty much frozen up – at least if *our* mail box is anything to judge by. We’re not even getting offers of credit cards, so there’s much less junk mail to do deal with! Every cloud has a silver lining… Perhaps confidence in the economy has not sunk as low in Canada.
Hi Dave – Welcome to my blog! It’s great to hear from you – and thanks for pointing out this essential truth. There were several lessons to be learned from my experience and I only had chance to address one of them in the post. My friend Sue Ann says, ‘the inside reflects the outside’, and you put the same thing in slightly different words: ‘the world is an outside picture of an inward condition’. I believe this is true but I don’t yet fully ‘know’ it. In my own life, I’m working on accepting what comes along, understanding that it is a reflection of what’s going on inside me, but I am not yet ready to accept the suffering of others in the same way. As you may see from my latest post, ‘The Sheep Strike Again’, I can still get swept up in the drama of the world, wanting to ‘make things right’. I wonder if you are familiar with Ho’oponopono, which I link to from that post? It seems to me to be a lifeline, a way of dealing with the apparent contradictions of acceptance on one hand and compassion on the other: a way of healing what is happening in the world outside by healing within.
Hi Davina – Many thanks for your comment! You are right. I think when we follow others, we are following instinctive rather than intuitive behavior. It was probably what worked in the wild. Predators would pick off solitary stragglers, so it was better to stay with the rest of the tribe. It is rooted in fear – and such behavior is always best to avoid.
Thanks for your comments everyone!
Posted by: Simon | January 25, 2009 at 10:45 PM
Simon,
Yes, familiar with Ho’oponopono. Thanks for the link.
We all get swept away in the drama. I hear your struggle. We all share it. Something to consider, though, is the nature of healing here. It is always temporary, and it is never univeral. We know this, yet we continue to try to heal here. That is Einstein's definition of insanity. At some point we get sick and tired of being sick and tired, and we decide that there must be another way.
Posted by: Dave | January 28, 2009 at 02:42 AM
Hi Dave - Thanks once again for sharing your wisdom. As you say, such healing is always temporary. It is never the ultimate answer. George Mitchell negotiated peace after decades of conflict in Northern Ireland. Now his mission is the Middle East. If he succeeds in that, there will be more work for him elsewhere. Unless the human race gets a consciousness upgrade, it will always be so. That 'other way' is the ultimate answer.
And yet, as far as I personally am concerned, it comes back to what I said before about 'knowing'. I *believe* in the consciousness upgrade I mention, but I do not fully *know* that it's going to happen. Until I do, I am reluctant to rely totally on what is essentially a belief system - at least as far as the suffering of others is concerned. So for the time being I'm straddling two worlds, attempting to heal in two places at once. It feels a bit uncomfortable but it's where I'm at for now. It may change tomorrow.
Posted by: Simon | January 28, 2009 at 10:26 PM
I think that's where we all are, Simon.
We’re all “suffering” from a conflicted (read: split) mind.
The only thing I would add is that our problem here may indeed be our reliance on a faulty belief system with both suffering and sacrifice at its foundation. What if we're the dreamer of the dream and not a figure within the nightmare? What if the conflict in our brain and out in the world merely reflects the conflict in the mind of the dreamer? Upgrading the dream wouldn’t help. Waking up would.
Posted by: Dave | January 29, 2009 at 04:20 PM
Well said, Dave. You are right to point out that the way we normally view the world is itself a kind of belief system. So what I am *really* doing is choosing between *two* belief systems, selecting the one that's most widely used by those around me and confusing that with 'reality'. What's happening is that I'm following the herd and acting like those sheep I wrote about... Doh! I'm flying in the face of my own post - not for the first time!
What I mean by a 'consciousness upgrade' is the same as you mean by 'waking up'. But perhaps, indeed, 'consciousness upgrade' does not quite describe what we're talking about: not a stereo high definition dream but a whole new reality.
Thanks again for your insight, Dave.
Posted by: Simon | January 29, 2009 at 08:44 PM
Likewise, Simon. We are all sheep, but it is beautiful when we remind each other that we don't have to be.
Posted by: Dave | January 30, 2009 at 03:36 AM
Absolutely! Thanks Dave.
Posted by: Simon | January 30, 2009 at 11:14 PM
Hi there! I had actually popped in once but should take more time. This reminds me of things I've been "complaining" about on my own blog. Funny thing is, I still receive a few newsletters though I'm trying to retreat into and look for my own Buddhi ;-). Now one is still warning people not to follow the dark powers and thus I feel a bit intimidated and am left wondering if I'm doomed or not because of the difficult feelings I'm going through rather than seeing the light that "the other group" is already sensing. Another more mundane teacher that I didn't care much for because she seemed rather preoccupied with money and success has now posted two things about the sheep-phenomenon. One was that one needs to beware of the psychics who are intrusive in their need to channel stuff for you (ah, my pet hate!). The other was about not going along with the belief systems someone (and their followers) are insisting on unless you really feel it yourself. If the bird is not a bird in your opinion no matter what others tell you then it isn't. We must never forget that our minds are all subjective. I'm struggling a lot with this because somehow I have managed to get indoctrinated by forceful opinions online. But it's interesting that people are now realizing this phenomenon too. Good for you! ;-)
Posted by: Vivi-Mari | February 01, 2009 at 05:17 PM
Hi Vivi-Mari - Thanks for your interesting comment. I wasn't specifically thinking of spiritual teaching when I wrote this post but that is a perspective which seems to be increasingly relevant as the days pass. My friend Sue Ann, who often comments here, can be scary and offputting at times but she is also a great source of wisdom (my buddhi tells me!). I was looking through some emails she sent me and they seem to be relevant to your comment. Sue Ann says: 'When contacting dis-embodied beings, it is important to direct that we ONLY wish to hear from Ascended Beings. For unascended beings are not likely to know or understand any more then we do - usually less - and egos still rule, as in, getting their jollies off because some dumb human is actually listening to them.' In other words, these people who claim to be channelling information need to apply buddhi as much to that as to anything else - and so do we!
As for your difficult feelings, here’s Sue Ann again: ‘Jesus went into the desert. Met up with the Devil. And came out a Christ. Then went on to spread the message of a Christ.
’'Going into the desert', is the same thing as 'releasing ourselves from attachments'. He turned his back on the ways of the world and on his attachments to those ways.
’Then he meets up with the 'Devil'. This was HIS Devil, representing his dark side. For that is really what the "Devil" is, a scapegoat to blame for all our human characteristics and potentials that we don't happen to like. So we judge and reject these characteristics, assigning the blame to an entity other then ourselves.
’"Oh no, not me. I am Love & light. I am smiles and sunshine. I am a warrior for Spirit."
’This is the fundamental cause at the root of all our realities based on duality and polarity. I am *this* but not *that*. I am *light* but not *dark*. I am *good* but not *evil*. I am *positive* but not *negative*.
’And we live our days in a constant state of inner conflict. For whether we can admit it or not, we are all the same...INSIDE. We are all 'human'. Which means making mistakes and being blind and ignorant in our ways.
’It is in CLAIMING our own 'Devil' our own Darkness, that we come to Recognize and REALIZE the Christ within us, too. For our Divinity is hidden in our Darkness.’
The above is extracted from a very looong comment of Sue Ann’s. If you are interested, you can find the whole thing here: http://secretoflife.typepad.com/the_secret_of_life/2007/01/waking_up.html#comment-6a00d83452582e69e2010536f1dd1b970c
As you know, I believe that we can reconnect to our Divinity if we work on clearing away that darkness by giving ourselves permission to feel those stored emotions we have long suppressed. Right now, I feel I need to understand more about this process. But I know that you, Vivi-Mari, have been accused of being ‘so far away from God’ because you have been willing to confront your feelings. All I can say is: it seemed to work well enough for Jesus…
One more quote before I go, this time from Sri Bhagavan, who echoes the teacher you mention in your comment. Sri Bhagavan says: "Truth however profound, when it is not yours still remains untruth." He teaches that enlightenment is different for everyone, so we all have to find our own way. That is why those who try to impose their own ideas on us our mistaken. We all have to trust in our buddhi, our own sense of what is right – and certainly not, it seems to me, in those who seek to motivate us through fear.
Posted by: Simon | February 02, 2009 at 12:57 AM
Hello fellow blogger, I stopped by your site and thought maybe you would like to swap links with me, after adding http://voiceofbragg.com with the title "Blog Till Death" to your site, message me and I will add yours...have a great day
Posted by: randy bragg | February 08, 2009 at 09:55 PM